HUNTSVILLE, Alabama - Edwina Sandys has had an extraordinary life. The granddaughter of Winston Churchill, Sandys grew up among world leaders and privilege before becoming a self-taught artist as an adult. Her monumental sculptures are now on display around the world.

On March 20, Sandys will give a talk about her life and her work at the Huntsville Museum of Art . The luncheon at which she will speak is the first in the third annual Voices of Our Times series at the museum.

Author Joyce Carol Oates will give a talk and sign books on March 29, and Louise Hirschfeld, the widow of famed caricature artist Al Hirschfeld, will speak on May 29. Her talk is part of the opening party for the exhibit. “Al Hirschfeld: A Celebration of Hollywood and Broadway,” which will be on view at the museum from May 31 to Sept. 14.

Christopher J. Madkour, the museum’s CEO, began the Voices series three years ago to bring interesting speakers and personalities to Huntsville. Matthew Bogdonas, a former U.S. Marine colonel and assistant district attorney in Manhattan, New York, kicked off the series with a discussion of the antiquities he and his team recovered that had been stolen from Iraq’s National Museum.

Other speakers of note have followed, including author, artist and fashion designer Gloria Vanderbilt and actress Ali MacGraw, among others.

“The reason for this is to bring people of note, whether in arts, politics, publishing, or academia, to Huntsville for a presentation,” Madkour said. “This year, we’re focusing on three extraordinary women in their own right.”

The Voices speakers have, invariably, become great ambassadors for Huntsville, Madkour said.

“It means Huntsville and the museum are getting it right,” he said. “When people get here and see the museum and see the town, it’s a surprise. They don’t know what to expect and when they leave they’re just effervescent about their time here.”

Vanderbilt and MacGraw often speak of the warm reception they had here, and interior designer Carlton Varney, who spoke here in 2013, encouraged Sandys to give one of her relatively rare presentations here.

“He thought it was a lovely place, and everybody was so delightful,” Sandys said in a recent telephone interview from Palm Beach, Fla., where she splits her time between her home in New York City. “He thought it would be good for me to come there.”

Sandys will talk “a little about my life because in a way my art and my life are intertwined, and a few of the things I am wanting to do with my life or with my work,” she said. She’ll be showing pictures of her artwork, which ranges from her early works in paint to large sculptures in marble and steel, among other materials.

One work, “Breakthrough,” is cut from pieces of the Berlin Wall and is installed on the campus of Westminster College in Fulton, Mo,, where Winston Churchill gave a speech in 1946 in which he said “an Iron curtain has descended across the Continent.” The college is the site of the Winston Churchill Museum, and Sandys created the piece in honor of her grandfather and the collapse of the wall. President Ronald Reagan spoke at the dedication of the sculpture on Nov. 9, 1990.

When Sandys visits Huntsville, she’ll have on hand several silkscreen prints of her Yin-Yang series of paper cutouts she has recently done.

“It all started 15 years ago or more, doing paper cutouts of mostly red paper and putting it on white paper,” Sandys said of the collages that combine the positive images she has cut out of the paper placed on the negative space from which the cutouts have come.

“I did about 100 of those over the last several years, and I chose some of the best ones, the ones I like the best, to have made into silkscreen prints.”

She’s also bringing two small sculptures in aluminum, both of which will be for sale as are the screenprints. Sandys will also be signing copies of her four books, including “Edwina Sandys: Art,” which covers her life and career.

“’I’m looking forward to meeting the people” here, Sandys said. “What I like, what I enjoy, is interacting with people. We can all have fun and learn about each other, and get to know other.”

The luncheon, talk and book signing with Sandys will be March 20 at 11:30 p.m., at the museum. Tickets are $65 for museum members and $90 for non-members. The talk with Joyce Carol Oates is March 29 at 7 p.m., with tickets $25 for members and $45 for non-members. Louise Hirschfeld will speak with David Leopold, archivist at the Hirschfeld Foundation, on May 29 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $25 for members and $45 for non-members.

For more information or to purchase tickets for any of the events, visit hsvmuseum.org or call 256-535-4350, ext. 208.